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Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe warns of new regulations if president wins new term

Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe says President Barack Obama's administration is delaying “job-killing” environmental rules until after the election, but an environmental advocate says the Republican senator is wrong about jobs and delays.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Jim Inhofe warned Thursday that the Environmental Protection Agency would unleash a raft of environmental regulations if President Barack Obama wins a second term.

Inhofe, R-Tulsa, released a report on proposed regulations governing air and water quality, and charged they had been deliberately delayed until after the election.

“President Obama has spent the past year punting on a slew of job-killing EPA regulations that will destroy millions of American jobs and cause energy prices to skyrocket even more,” Inhofe said.

“From greenhouse gas regulations to water guidance to the tightening of the ozone standard, the Obama EPA has delayed the implementation of rule after rule because they don't want all those pink slips and price spikes to hit until after the election.”

The EPA did not respond to a request for comment.

Scott Slesinger, legislative adviser to the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, said his group would welcome the proposed regulations because they would “save a lot of lives and create new industries.” He said many, rather than being delayed for political reasons, had been bogged down in an “excruciatingly burdensome” process.

Slesinger called Inhofe's charge that the regulations would kill jobs “a big lie.”

“No matter how many times Senator Inhofe says the world is flat, it doesn't get any flatter,” Slesinger said.

Inhofe, the top Republican on the Senate committee that oversees the EPA, said the agency has delayed new rules on smog and greenhouse gas emissions. The proposal for greenhouse gases would virtually ensure that no new coal-burning power plants are built, and it would eventually impose rules across numerous industries, Inhofe said.

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by Chris Casteel

Washington Bureau

Chris Casteel began working for The Oklahoman's Norman bureau in 1982 while a student at the University of Oklahoma. After covering the police beat, federal courts and the state Legislature in Oklahoma City, he moved to Washington in 1990, where...